WAEC names region to scrutinize WASSCE papers over malpractice
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) says it will thoroughly scrutinize the WASSCE papers of candidates from the Oti region during the marking of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination for school scripts this year.
Speaking in an interview monitored by Pretertiary.com, a spokesman for the not-for-profit-making organization, John Kapi said his outfit was informed about examination irregularities in the region which they discovered to be true.
“From the Northern region, we got a whistleblower and informed our branch controller who is in Tamale to follow up, in the Upper East we did not register anything
In the Oti region, we received information that certain things were happening so with them we will do what we call scrutiny when their (WASSCE for School) scripts are in,” the Head of Public Affairs at WAEC told the host of JoyNews The Pulse show.
He said after the release of the provisional results of the Junior High School (JHS) students who sat for the Basic Education Certificate Examination, the Council will commence the marking of the 2024 WASSCE for School scripts.
“After the release of the BECE results we are going to go into the marking of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination for School Candidates and when that is done we will be conducting the WASSCE for Private Candidates,” he noted.
The 2024 edition of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School which started on Monday, August 5, 2024, with the administration of Visual Art Project work ended on Friday, September 20, 2024.
A total of 460,611 candidates made up of 212,954 males and 247,657 females, presented by 1,003 participating Senior High Schools registered for the examination. The examination was administrated at 1,000 centres across the country.
In a press statement sighted by Pretertiary.com, the not-for-profit-making organization said the examination fractions were observed on the part of some supervisors, invigilators and candidates. Some of the infractions recorded include:
1. Photocopying of answers and distribution of same to candidates;
2. Hiding of foreign material on candidates in the examination halls;
3. Smuggling of Mobile Phones into the examination halls by candidates and teachers;
4. Writing answers on boards for the candidates to copy;
5. Use of projectors to display answers on the board for candidates to copy;
6. Use of mobile phones to take snapshots of questions and posting of same on social media.